Summary

The Statewide Public Guardianship Office (SPGO) (administratively housed within the Department of Elder Affairs) oversees the care of incapacitated persons and the management of their assets when private guardians are unavailable. To facilitate this mission, Offices of the Public Guardian (OPGs) are established and funded by the State and local governments. Incapacitated individuals that meet specified asset and income limits and do not have a private guardian may become court-ordered wards of the OPGs.

Our audit of the Office of the Public Guardian, Second Judicial Circuit (OPG 2^nd) included the period July 2000 through January 2002. Generally, the OPG 2^nd had established policies and procedures to ensure prudent management of ward assets, and compliance with applicable guardianship laws. However, the terms and conditions of bank accounts containing cash belonging to wards should be analyzed and competitively renegotiated to provide interest earnings for the benefit of the wards. The average monthly balance of ward cash in non-interest bearing accounts during the audit period totaled in excesss of $170,000.

The Public Guardian’s written response to the audit findings and recommendations included in audit report No. 02-200 can be viewed as a part of the complete report filed on this Auditor General web site.